The project was spearheaded by North Adams artist Ralph Brill, who lives and works in the renovated 125,000-square-foot Eclipse Mill that was the setting for some of Hine's photographs. Three years ago, Brill set out to document the history of the mill, with a particular focus on the many children who worked there. But as he followed Hine's trail, his project grew.

Brill enlisted a team of artists, historians and filmmakers to help piece together the story of early 20th-century child labor not only in North Adams, but in Fall River and other Massachusetts mill towns as well. The result is a compelling multi-media exhibit that already has made stops in Waltham and Vermont. The exhibit will be in Fall River through Labor Day.

Anne Thidemann French of North Adams on April 11 led a training workshop for local educators. The author of "A Teacher's Guide to the Mill Children," French suggested learning activities for students who are scheduled to visit the exhibit.

"Rather than simply viewing the photos, we're trying to prepare the kids for a deeper learning experience," French said. "We want the teachers to point out how the mill children dressed, what their health may have been like and the dangers inherent in working in a cotton mill."

Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940) was an investigative photographer who worked for the National Child Labor Committee. He documented the working conditions of minors between 1908 and 1924, snapping more than 5,000 images. In 1916, Hine visited Fall River, taking 200 photos of children at work in the city.

In Volume III of his book "Victorian Vistas," Dr. Phillip T. Silvia Jr. includes a newspaper excerpt from a 1905 speech about child labor given by Gertrude Barnum, secretary of the Women's Trade Worker's League, after a visit to the Spindle City.

"At 14 years of age it is as natural for some to go into the mills as it is to breathe. Their life is nearly all in the mill. They eat their hot dinners there at noon hour, furnished for $1 per week, but when it comes night they are so tired that they care little for supper," Barnum was recorded as saying.

In the early 1900s, it was not unheard of for children as young as 8 to be employed in Fall River mills.

"The children almost always misrepresented their birthdays in order to get hired," said French. "Hine would guess their age by how high they came up to the buttons on his vest."

Sponsored by the Brill Gallery, The Mill Children exhibit features original Hine photographs (many taken in Fall River), corresponding interpretations by Eclipse Mill artists and historical narratives of the children photographed.